KFC story may have been a hoax, but 3-year-old pit bull victim’s scars are real

The story that 3-year-old Victoria Wilcher was asked to leave a KFC restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi may have been fabricated, but her scars from a pit bull attack are real and well documented.

Wilcher’s injuries became internationally known through reportage by Charlotte Alter of TIME.com, the online edition of the TIME magazine news weekly, published on June 20, 2014. Alter extensively quoted ANIMALS 24-7 editor Merritt Clifton’s 32 years of research pertaining to dog attacks in general and pit bulls in particular in “The Problem With Pit Bulls,” posted at: http://time.com/2891180/kfc-and-the-pit-bull-attack-of-a-little-girl/.

Opened Alter, “It’s horrible that KFC kicked out that 3-year-old girl, but let’s focus on the real problem: pit bulls were bred to be violent. The social media universe became furious at KFC this week after an employee asked a three-year old victim of a dog attack to leave one of their restaurants because “her face is disrupting our customers.” But it wasn’t KFC employees who broke down the door to Victoria Wilcher’s grandfather’s house and mauled the toddler until half her face was paralyzed and she lost the use of one of her eyes. Three pit bulls did that.”

Alter also cited perspectives from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the Annals of Surgery, PETA, the American Pit Bull Foundation, and Dogsbite.org.

“The heart-wrenching story of a disfigured 3-year-old child being asked to leave a Jackson KFC because her appearance was scaring other customers was a made-up story that resulted in the family bilking the public and professionals for more than $135,000 in cash, as well as gifts and free surgeries,” reported Sean Murphy of the Laurel, Mississippi Leader Call on June 23, 2014, citing “sources with deep knowledge of the investigation.” Murphy’s anonymous sources apparently had access to surveillance videos made at the two KFC restaurants near the Batson Children’s Hospital in Jackson, in the neighborhood where the incident was said to have occurred.

But while the allegation that Wilcher was asked to leave the KFC restaurant appeared to be fictitious, the April 10, 2014 pit bull attack that disfigured her was thoroughly documented by Sheriff Kenneth Lewis, Dustin Barnes and Terricha Bradley-Phillips of the Jackson Clarion Ledger, and Jessica Bowman of Mississippi News Now. Wilcher’s grandfather, Donald Mullins, and his girlfriend, Rita Tompkins, were both arrested on child endangerment charges, though both were also credited with saving Wilcher’s life after she was attacked. Mullins shot two of the three dogs who mauled Wilcher to end the attack.

A graphic assembled by Dogsbite.org from ANIMALS 24.7 data, included in the TIME article, starkly illustrated the rising numbers of pit bull attacks since the 2007 Michael Vick dogfighting case caused the Best Friends Animal Society and American SPCA, among others, to ramp up pit bull advocacy:

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Bravo to Ms. Alter and TIME for having the guts to go against political correctness and tell the truth about these living weapons of mass destruction. May others follow their lead. It’s time to get these dangerous, unpredictable dogs off the streets and out of the hands not only of unscrupulous people who fight them, but also of the general public, who seem to believe it won’t happen to them or their loved ones. Here is the proof that it can, and does.

Thanks Merritt. You and Peta seem to be the only national animal welfare groups that are brave enough to speak out on this issue. I only wish the Time article did more to emphasize how mandatory spay/neuter programs are not only good for public safety but equally beneficial, if not more so, for the welfare of the dogs themselves. Kansas City’s ordinance on mandatory sterilization of pit bulls has reduced its shelter population of pit bulls by 50% and since 2007 has resulted in over 10,000 pit bulls being spayed/neutered. Please keep up the good work on educating the public, and most especially, the animal welfare movement on this issue.

They never ARE a danger………….until they are, and then they are deadly.. You cannot say a pit bull terrier will NOT act on its aggressive genetics until the very day you shovel dirt over it. THEN and only THEN can you say it never mauled or killed anyone if you’re lucky enough for that to be true.

Inasmuch as pit bulls have accounted for half or more of the dog attack fatalities in every 10-year time frame since 1844, the alleged hoax has persisted for longer than the Republican Party. The pit bull body count from September 1982 to the 2014 solstice has included 2,007 of 2,934 dog attack disfigurements and 294 of 558 human fatalities. The pit bull body count also includes about 41,500 of the 43,000 other pets and livestock killed by dogs in 2013.

The pit bull terrier’s attack on the child was not a hoax, as the article so clearly points out. This child has suffered tremendously because of what a violent pit bull terrier did to her. Let’s be clear about what is important here, as was pointed out in the article.

Just posted on Victoria’s Victories: I promise its not a hoax, I never thought any of this would blow up the way it has. The article circling the web calling this a hoax is untrue. The article it self say the investigation is not complete. It is not over until KFC releases a statement. The media outlet running this story is not connected with KFC. The family has not asked for anything, a attorney is handling all the media publicity for the family pro bono. Please do not believe untrue media. I have personally watched this family go without to provide for Victoria. They have not and would not do anything to hurt Victoria in any way.

It is so tragic that people and other animals are ever attacked by any other animal. I am in full support of our society studying the entire picture as we work toward decreasing the possibility of such events occurring. I believe we can best do this by avoiding “the blame game” and educating ourselves and each other about the facts. The facts may indeed include the number of attacks on humans by dogs known as pit bulls. The facts also include that people have over-bred these dogs, do not alter them, train them or monitor them. It seems to me that the solution to preventing such tragedies requires more complex approaches than simply focusing on breed alone. I look forward to Animals 24-7 future reports about these complex relationships of dogs, people, and context. And let’s not forget the sensationalism in mainstream media that lead to cases of abuse like the “KFC story.” How sick it is that a family would perpetrate this complex hoax on others. Seems to me we don’t have a “pit bull problem;” We have a “people problem.”

Fuck You Merrit Clifton & Time Magazine!! Fucking idiots!! Bad owners raise bad dogs…I have a rescue pitbull who is the sweetest boy…I’ve been attacked more by our tcup chihuahua…Our Bully has never been agressive…This is bullshit & you are blaming the entire breed for the actions of a few bad dogs…Dogs who may have been abused, brought up improperly, who knows..You and your article suck!! It’s bullshit!! I’m a CVT & I’ll tell you one fact my pitbull is not a danger to society, or other dogs, & he’s always playful with our kids…He loves ppl…Shame on you, really!!! Pure ignorance…I’m so disgusted with this article & this stupid magazine…I will never purchase another Time magazine…Smh…